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2/21/09

I have watched just about every Raptor game that has ever been played in the NBA. After last night's game and effort, I struggle to think of a worse game. We have seen some bad ones this season. The loss in Denver that cost Sam Mitchell his job. We saw them loss to the Thunder. A brutal loss to Memphis. But this one was the worst of them all. Here is why I say that. This team has said they still consider themselves in the playoff race. I have not agreed with that. However They have said it and they get their star player back. Playing against on of the many teams they must pass to make the playoffs. They come out with an effort like that? 9-0 run and it just got worse from there. I mean how on earth can anyone think Jay Triano can survive this and be the coach of this team. Paul Jones who is a regular guest on the Dino Nation Blog often has said this is a results based business. He is right and the results for Jay Triano have been bad. I wanted Jay to be a success because he is a Canadian and a good guy that deserved a chance. I never took into account how hard it would be to get promoted with a team that you have been with 7 years. It is hard for you to gain respect of folks when they have thought of you in a certain way for years.

That being said this goes beyond Triano and it goes right into the core of this team. Chris Bosh has always busted his butt for this team. I am not jumping off the Bosh Bandwagon. However this team is not taking this personally and it is part of Chris Bosh's job not only to perform himself but to make the people around him rise to higher levels. It has seemed that the opposite has happened. This team and it's lack of performance has pulled Bosh down. He started the season like a rocket and he has fizzled as the team around him has. The future for Bosh seems very bleak to remain a Raptor. There is 30 million reasons for Bosh to remain a Raptor. However the way this team is playing around him may out weigh any amount of cash. Failed relationships with Ford and J.O as duos to lead this team to higher levels make you wonder a lot of things. It just has not worked out well. Bryan Colangelo is really going to have to do the selling job of his life to keep Bosh at this point. For those who say to trade Bosh and start over, I say with what exactly? Andrea Bargnani? You are going to build a team around him? Good luck with that.

T.J Ford Revisited

Speaking of which if this team is going to run, that is the new plan right? Why did we trade T.J Ford? If the goal was always to be a running team why did we have to move Ford? If I am starting a team that is going to run and push the basketball I am taking T.J Ford as my point guard. Jose Calderon is not a running point guard. It is against his make up to take the risks required to run that style of offense. He can not be the guy to lead an offense that is designed to look anything like the Suns. So if Bryan Colangelo always had this plan to be a running team and it was going to head in this direction why would he choose to unload Ford? It makes little sense to me. He could have done a sign and trade for Calderon with him coming off the season he had. He said himself he took no less than 16 calls about Calderon at last year's deadline. The thought was T.J was traded because of 3 things. His attitude which in all honesty this team lacks. Did T.J handle not being a starter well? No not at all. However he would not handle this team performing at the level it has. He would demand more and expect more. Ford whatever you think of him has a lot of heart and pride. There was not a lot of that last night was there? Second was the fear of injury. Ford has had his bumps and bruises this year with Pacers but he has played more games than Jose. You took a risk on a guy with a bad knee so I am not convinced health was part of the reason. T.J Ford will always have some level of risk given his history. However no one can predict what will happen in future. The risk on Ford was the same as it was the day he walked in the door. Third was money and the fact you could not afford to keep both T.J and Jose under contract. This was a real concern. However many basketball people say point guard is the most important position. You want proof look at how hard the Magic worked to bring in 2 point guards when Jameer Nelson went down. So maybe things could have been worked out with Ford and Calderon. I think the Raptors did not even try to make that happen. There was a problem but is it any worse than the one this team faces now? I don't think so.

What is Ahead?

What can we expect from this team on Sunday? I have no idea. I did expect they would lose to the Knicks. But in the fashion and way that they did? Not a chance. I was really floored sitting at my laptop stunned at what I was watching. Any amount of words I typed last night or today, can not sum up how utterly disappointed and disgusted I was with this basketball team. I do what I am doing cause in part I deeply care about this team and franchise and it having ultimate success. This has been a season that has tested fans on so many levels. There is a real anger and frustration in this fan base and it is justified. It is up to the people running the show to fix it. Do not complain when fans boo. You have earned those boos. It up to you to make people want to cheer and at this point that is a tough task.

13 comments:

Totally agree with your points. Calderon has really disappointed despite the fact he NOT 100,000024% It is not his offense but his defense that leaves speechless. He gets blown by everybody... T.J. has the dribble penetration capability...something really lacking on this team. I could write a book on this season, heck I could write one on last night alone. The fans have every reason to be mad and they should demonstrate it tomorrow if the Dino's come out with their heads in the sand. Somebody needs to get vocal because it is not happening inside the locker room.

I have talked about Calderon's defense at length. I did even when he was the "chosen one" of this fan base. I have talked about it at length with people like Jack Armstrong, Paul Jones and many of our other guests. None have disagreed that Jose does not lack defensive ability. He is to easily beat and show no ability to fight through screens. If I could give one message to Jose. It would be this. Take as much pride as you do in possession of the basketball as you do in your defense. It really is the start of the Raptors defensive issues. A breakdown with Calderon leads to a chain of events in the help defense that leads to open looks from 3 for teams. I am not a basketball zen master or anything but it seems pretty clear to me.

Yeah that is basketball 101. Furthermore, as Leo Rautins said yesterday: if the Raptors want to run, Calderon will have to give up the ball faster, take more risks and be more vocal. I could see Marion asking for the ball on numerous occasions without getting a touch. Secondly, if Calderon is really serious about committing to the Rap's, he has to give up his Spanish national team dedication. Clearly, it has taken its toll on him. Nash stopped long ago and for good reason.

If Calderon is to remain he will have to totally rebuild his game on many levels. Playing with the Spain offers another issue being that they play almost completely zone d and that does zero to help Calderon improve in the obvious defensive challenges he has. A Nash for Calderon deal may be an answer for the Raptors in a lot of ways. Marion may be more interested in sticking around and Bosh too. Does playing with Jose help attract you players in this league? I don't think so unless they are his buddies from Spain and Pau Gasol is not leaving the Lakers anytime soon. Same goes for a number of the other players from Spain in the league.

The reason that TJ was traded was because his and our "superstar mvp"'s relationship has gone sour. When TJ first returned to Toronto he said that him & Bosh haven't spoken since game 5 of last year's playoffs. Why didnt you just mention that and stop bitching about your mancrush.

And Jose's a complete liability defensively while tremendously overrated on offense who'll never lead any team deep into the playoffs as a starter.

I don't understand why everyone kept saying that we had to keep one of them. BC should've just traded them both.

You nailed the situation on the head in all regards but one - CB4. The man is a good player, of this there is no doubt, but he's not a number 1 guy that you would build around. He's a great second piece, but he's not a lead dog. All Raptor strategies have failed because the assumption up until now has been that Bosh is a "superstar" player that a championship team can be built around. Ford and Nesterovic were brought in to compliment him, so was Jermaine O'Neal...finally Marion arrived. None of them has proven that they can help Bosh push even a miserable first round series past a sixth game.

I hear people saying Bosh is a top ten NBA player - really? Lets assume last night (and the whole season, for that matter) didn't happen. Let's assume Bosh is a top ten guy. Are there really 10 guys out there who can lead a team to a championship? Leaving aside the no brainers like Kobe, Wade, Duncan and Lebron, can anyone else in the top ten really do it as a number one guy? Can Dwight Howard (who is clearly better than Bosh)? Can Chris Paul (sickeningly better than Bosh)? Can Kevin Durant (one light year ahead of Bosh)? As a franchise, we will not progress...we will continue to make bad trades and stupid mistakes if we don't accept that Bosh is a very good second piece - not a first. We still need to find a true number one guy and start to build around him. Something to think about anyways, since we're already paying Bosh as if he were a number one.

I don't think you could have moved both without bring back someone like a Steve Nash and had this fan base except it.

The only point being made is if the plan all along was to run. T.J Ford should have been the point guard. I make it no secret I have liked Ford as a player. I don't think that is a mancrush as you put it. I think it is being a fan of a player. I was before, during and after T.J was a Raptor.

If we are going to make personal choices based on who likes who should we go back to the Vince Carter era when he dictated the roster. I think I will pass. The point is nothing was beyond fixing and Ford should have stayed if the play was to become a running team.

Thank God the basketball world is not ran by bloggers. To the Calderon haters, the guy played 82 games last season (30 minutes per game, TJ played 51) Toronto got 41 wins. What happens this season? Is Calderon all of a sudden a useless PG??Come on, Mitchell was fired... Triano is a genius, BC's moves have been brilliant and Bosh is a global star.

*Note on FIBA's Zone Defense: a defensive player may remain in the restricted area for longer than 3 seconds without being actively guarding an opponent.

Great points Stephen A Smooth. It takes a true GM to turn the Atlantic Division Champs into absolute garbage...losing to non-playoff teams by 30. Thank god the team is not being run by bloggers and we have had "global stars" such as J.O., Marion and Bosh play for us this year. My only hope is that Joey G. makes the job from "continental star" into "global star" this year.

Thank You. I do work hard and the fact you feel that way is really nice to read. There are lots of great blogs out there. When it comes to Bosh I am just hopeful things can be fixed cause Raptors have driven far to many good players out of town and there is not a huge line of folks coming back the other way.

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